Scope and Content Note
The papers of William Zorach (1889-1967) span the years 1822-1974, with the bulk of the material falling between 1930 and 1968. The original portion of the collection consists of correspondence, speeches, articles, book manuscripts, sketches, printed matter, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous material organized in six series: Family Correspondence; General Correspondence; Speech, Article, and Book File; Printed Matter; Miscellany, and Oversize. Addition I contains similar material arranged in five series: Family Correspondence, General Correspondence, Subject File, Speeches and Writings File, and Miscellany. Addition II consists of photocopies of correspondence and related documents.
The General Correspondence in the main portion deals largely with the creation, production, and sale of works of art by William Zorach and his fellow artists. Zorach worked closely with the architects of the buildings for which he was commissioned to execute sculpture. He corresponded with Ellerbe and Company about a Mayo Clinic project; with Murphy & Mackey about his sculpture “The Runner” for the St. Louis Kiener Memorial Foundation; and with Kenneth Franzheim about the Second National Bank Building in Houston.
Zorach also served as an instructor for the Art Students League where he conducted numerous courses in sculpture; and notes for speeches and lectures delivered before both professional and general audiences are contained in the Speech, Article, and Book File series. Additional notes in the same series give Zorach’s views concerning subjects such as abstract art, aesthetics, and art instruction for children.
Edith Gregor Halpert of the Downtown Gallery in New York was Zorach’s agent, and there is considerable business and personal correspondence between them. Many bills, receipts, and purchase slips pertaining to his works are retained in the collection.
In 1956, Zorach recorded his memoirs for the Columbia University Oral History Program. Typewritten transcripts of his dictated recollections are contained in the main body of these papers and in the Addition. The American Artists Group published a monograph on Zorach’s life and work, and copies of the material for this book are in the collection, as are notes for his books.
Principal correspondents in the main portion of the collection, in addition to those named above, include Sir Jacob Epstein, Winslow Eaves, Max Weber, and Jerry Bywaters of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Lloyd Goodrich of the Whitney Museum of Art, Lamar Dodd of the Department of Art at the University of Georgia, and the Rockefeller family. There is also substantial family correspondence in the main portion.
Although he maintained a studio-home in Brooklyn, N. Y., Zorach resided at Robinhood, a farm near Bath, Maine. Two letters addressed to James Riggs, a nineteenth-century owner of the estate, are included in the papers.
Addition I
Addition I of the Zorach Papers consists of items received by the Library in 1968-1978. It includes correspondence, drafts of poems and other writings, legal and financial records, sketches, printed matter, and miscellaneous material. The papers in this part are dated 1918 to 1974, but are concentrated in the period, 1959-1968.
Many of the papers in the Addition pertain to the years immediately before and after William Zorach’s death in 1966 and provide documentation of legal and financial problems encountered by Zorach’s estate. Correspondence of William and Marguerite Zorach with friends, students, organizations, and admirers is contained in the General Correspondence and is largely personal in nature. Correspondence with Edith Halpert is also in this series. Material relating to the bitter legal dispute between Halpert and the Zorach estate is located in the Subject File. Discussion on the nature of art in general and of Zorach’s sculptures in particular, advice to inquiring artists and collectors, and direction provided to various art associations seeking assistance are some of the more important topics covered in the correspondence series.
Art was the cement of the Zorach’s life together as demonstrated in the title of William Zorach’s autobiography, Art Is My Life. Two drafts of this book are provided in the speeches and writings series along with poems and writings penned by both Zorach’s.
William Zorach’s contacts with the art world as represented by sales, exhibitions, and castings of his works are gathered in the business correspondence folders in the Subject File series. Correspondence concerning gallery exhibits of works by Marguerite Zorach, a noted regional New England artist, is also concentrated in these folders.
Addition II
Addition II spans the years 1955-1962. It consists of photocopies of letters with related legal documents from Zorach to his niece, Rosemary Lewis, concerning his citizenship, and photocopies of correspondence with Alfred Hamilton Barr and related documents concerning accusations against him of Communist associations.